


We'll Grow it Back Orange (Again)

by Lidsworth



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Major Illness, No Character Death, Self-Esteem Issues, Shironeki - Freeform, Slice of Life, but honestly, it's just friendship - Freeform, slight hidekane, slight touken, small instances of touken, white haired Kaneki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2855087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lidsworth/pseuds/Lidsworth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Touka cries when she thinks no one is looking. Though Kaneki is always looking, and always noticing. Touka's getting a lot paler, a lot thinner. </p><p>He thinks that something is bothering her, and when she's finally ready to tell him, the half-ghoul finds small demons from his own past coming to get him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We'll Grow it Back Orange (Again)

**Author's Note:**

> A/n: I hope you like this, this is one of my first "touken" attempts, and being that I'm not a fan of the pair, I can see a little bit of touken in this, though I'm aiming for friendship.

Kaneki chose not to comment on Touka's recent hobby, as an assortment of colorful pink scarves and beanies had somehow found themselves on Anteiku's front desk. The collection began as a small donation box at the entrance of the door. It basically read “Toss in pink scarves, they're for a good cause.”  
  


So Touka-ish, Kaneki supposed. The description was incredibly quick, and to the point, though somewhat divergent of the actual intention. He believed that he blandness would warrant her no sort of donation.

 

But day after day, women and men tossed in ornate scarves, some pink and some loud ugly and orange (the kind that Hide used to wear all the time when he was sick), and eventually, Touka had scribbled a tiny “beanies would be nice too”.

 

And so the wide assortment of beanies came.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Both ghouls found themselves cleaning up the kitchen at the closing of the day. Though Touka took a small break. Sorting scarves and beanies had taken a toll on her already zapped energy, and by the looks of it, her obsession was starting to eat away at her social life.

 

Touka's gaunt eyes, and pale face said a lot about her strained eating habits.

 

“Hey, idiot Kaneki,” grumbled Touka, from beside the coffee maker.

Kaneki scowled at his preferred nickname, though answered none the less, “Yes, Touka-chan.”

 

Touka sighed, as she began to pour a steaming trail of coffee into ceramic cup, only to miss the actual cup part. Hot coffee splashed onto the counter, and fell to the floor.

 

“Shit” Hissed the ghoul, as she frantically looked around the kitchen for a towel to clean the large growing mess. All the while, Kaneki was somewhat puzzled by Touka's clumsiness, as the purple haired ghoul hardly had room for errors in her daily activities.

 

Needless to say, Kaneki was getting worried.

 

“Touka-chan, are you a-”  
“It's nothing,” Touka snapped suddenly, as she fell to her knees in a nervous frenzy, scrubbing at the floor, “Jus-Just go!”

 

It was then that he registered the trembling of Touka's shoulder, heard the quite sobs that she fought to keep within, listened to the soft pants that she tried to cover up her moans with, and suddenly, Touka seemed a lot smaller...a lot weaker.

 

It scared Kaneki, honestly, to see his “idol” so broken. And even worse, he had no knowledge of the perpetrator. It made him sick to his gut that he could only watch Touka fall apart before him.

 

“It's okay Touka-chan,” he whispered quietly, trying to sooth the moment, “It's just...you just spilled some coffee, we all make mistakes.”

 

Kaneki was unsure of what to do exactly, unsure of whether he should support her with a gentle pat on the shoulder, or sweep her into a comforting hug (though even after their prolonged time together, they hadn't gotten as close as they needed to be).

 

“It's more than that,” She groaned and sniffed, standing up, though she did so as if there had been weights tied to her joints, “It's a lot _fucking_ more.”

 

And truly, it was a lot fucking more.

 

The entire evening carried out in silence. A painful, strained silence.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

“Hey, Kaneki, can you take my shift?” Touka sent a text the following day, and Kaneki without thinking.

 

“Yes” he responded.  
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  
At closing that night, he realized that the beanie and scarf box had been half emptied. It seemed like Touka had taken them with her, and more people had just generously tossed them into the box. The bell chimed, and a bustling blond made his way into the cafe, two minutes before closing.

 

“Sup Kaneki!” the blond closed the door behind him, though his eyes suddenly found the box of scarves below him (attention span), “Cool, what's all this about.”  
  
Kaneki slapped a wet towel on the last table he was cleaning, “Something Touka-Chan's doing, I don't know why though.”  
  
Hide knelt down, and grabbed one of the beanies. It was pink, very pink, “Ugh...doesn’t look like Touka-chan's colors.”

 

Kaneki giggled softly, looking at the assortment, “Yeah, a little too happy,” the white haired ghoul walked closer, picking up one of the beanies, “Reminds me of Yoriko-chan.”

 

They both looked through the box, picking up the scarves and beanies and looking at them. Hide tilted his head slowly, and Kaneki surveyed his actions. Suddenly, the garments of clothing became a sort of one way mirror, a sort of intimacy between Hide and the clothing.

 

He moved the fabric between his fingers, as if he was squeezing the oxygen in between IV cords, or pricking at thinning hair that had been struck dead atop of his head by treatment.

 

Kaneki suddenly felt extremely sick, as he seemed to lose Hide in the blond's toxic thoughts.

“Hey Hide,” Kaneki grabbed for his friend's attention, punching him gently on the shoulder, “What's up.”

 

 _Not you too,_ he really wanted to say. Touka had already gone through some sort of strange phase, and Kaneki couldn't stand it if Hide did the same.

 

Though thankfully, for him, the blond shook out of his temporary spell, “Sorry, I was just—I—I just need to sit down.”

 

The scarves had somehow fallen to the ground, and the white haired man followed his friend to a table. Pulling out a chair, both sat beside each other.

 

It was Hide who spoke first.

 

“Sorry if I scared you Kaneki,” he laughed, though it was a dead, incredibly dry laugh, “It's just...this reminded me of when I was sick.”  
  
Kaneki's eyes widened, and memories connected like dots.

 

“I'm-”  
“No, don't be sorry...it's just, imagine what Yoriko-chan must be going through, what Touka-chan is feeling. I know that ghouls can't feel sickness, but still, it's her best friend” Hide sighed, “but maybe we're both wrong.”

 

 _But your intuition is never wrong,_ “Yeah, maybe we're just jumping the gun!” Kaneki laughed nervously, and Hide joined in the fray. Though they sounded dead in their joy.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  
Touka smelled of latex and hand sanitizer when she returned to work the next day, and if anything, she looked a lot worse than she had when Kaneki last saw her. She was gaunt, too gaunt. Pale and sickly. And bags had managed to accumulate themselves underneath her eyes. Even her service with the customers seemed rather off.

 

Needless to say, she didn't look like she wanted to be there.

 

Kaneki managed to catch her during their small lunch break, “Touka-chan, are you-”  
  
“Yoriko's sick and she needs someone to watch her, so I'm taking a vacation after today,” Touka ate a little at a piece of meat, “She can't stand up anymore, she feels like a failure because she can't cook me anything, she thinks she's ugly, and she's lost nearly all of her hair.”  
  


Kaneki felt like he'd just been hit by a truck. Hide's intuition weaved its way back into his brain.

 

“I-is she getting better?” He asked hopefully, somewhat nervous.

 

“Yeah, but she's just scared,” it seemed as if Touka bit back another sob, “and the treatment hurts a bit.”  
Kaneki nodded, and took a seat across from Touka, “If she needs someone to talk to, I could ask Hide.”

“Why the hell would Hide...” She stopped, mouth slightly agape as she realized where he was going, “Oh.”

 

“Yeah, it was really serious when we were younger. I spent more time in his hospital room than I did at my aunt's house,” Admitted the ghoul, somewhat distant, “A-and somehow he was still a lot stronger than me.”

 

Kaneki's hands rested on the table, fingers crossed at the tips, and the ghoul began to speak again, “They said he wouldn't make it because he was so small, but you know Hide, he's a fighter, even when he lost his hair...” Kaneki stopped mid sentence, as he realized just how much he was saying, and just how personal It was to him. Suddenly, the normal reserved Kaneki surfaced from just beneath the snow white hair, and pitch black nails, “So she and Hide should really talk.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

They arranged dates for the two to meet, after Hide eagerly agreed to go along with it. Kaneki came to Yoriko's house as well, because though Hide's illness had long grazed over him, there were instances when the ghoul believed that Hide still felt as if he were trapped in his hospital bed.

 

Kaneki would be there if Hide relapsed.

 

Yoriko was nervous when they first came, most likely because they were two boys who were a lot older than she and Touka. The first night, she clasped onto Touka's arm like a frightened child to its mother.

 

Kaneki clearly saw the fruit of Touak's efforts, as Yoriko's room had been plastered with scarves, and beanies, all from the genorous cafe customers. Yoriko herself wore one of the pink beanies, tugging at the bottom, every so often. She tugged even harder whenever Hide would look at her, or whenever he would sit on the large bed and talk.

 

The first few days, she pulled the hats over her head, and occasionally wore scarves too. She seemed embarrassed almost, and even ashamed.

 

“It's alright, I lost my hair too!” Hide said suddenly, during one of their conversations, “but you're pretty, so don't worry. You look really nice.”  
  
Yoriko cried like baby that night. However, she wore nothing atop of her head following their other visits.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
  


They were all playing Apples to Apples on top of Yoriko's bed, and so far, Hide was in the league (as always). The optimism was contagious that night, and there hadn’t been a second when the quartette hadn't been laughing. Though midway, Yoriko paused the game to ask Hide a question.

  
“It'll grow back, right?” She said softly, leaning in and running her hands through Hide's hair, “Orange?”

 

Touka sighed, and placed her cards down. Kaneki looked at the blond, curiously. What would he say?  
  
“Well, mine grew back all different colors,” Hide admitted, immediately regretting it when a look of dread flew past Yorki's features, “-but that's just because I have brunettes in my family. I'm pretty sure yours will grow back orange again!”

 

Touka smiled, and patted her friend on the shoulder, “Yeah Yoriko! And if it doesn't, we'll just dye it!”

“We can also get you wigs,” Hide chided, pointing at Kaneki, “He's the king of them.”  
“Hey, my taste is just really bad,” the ghoul looked slightly hurt, but It was all for show, “Besides, I can't get my hair to stick down.”  
  
Yoriko reached over to Kaneki's hair, and pricked off his dark wig (her parents wouldn't approve of Kanekis' white hair) and placed it a top of her bald head, “Do I look good in this color?”  
  
They all laughed, and continued to play. Touka barked at Kaneki of course, for his slowness, and negligence to match the right cards. Yoriko tried on Kaneki's wig at different angles, and Hide was just happy to be with his friends.

 

And weeks later, Yoriko was indeed cancer free, and her hair grew back orange, again. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it, a late night Christmas gift! I hope this was inspirational to anyone who may be suffering through this. We defiantly need more interaction between these four, and more Yoriko! Have a wonderful Christmas, and God bless!


End file.
